Researchers pulled data from Samsung, LG watches

If you’re sensitive about getting your data stolen, you might want to reconsider getting that smartwatch you thought about.

A group of researchers from the University of New Haven say they can extract personal information from the LG G Watch and from Samsung Gear 2 Neo.

On the LG G Watch, they managed to get their hands on the user’s email address, as well as data from the calendar, contacts and pedometer apps.

On the Gear 2 Neo, they got health, email, messages and contacts data, none of which were encrypted.

“It was not very difficult to get the data, but expertise and research was required," Cnet quoted Ibrahim Baggili, director of the university's Cyber Forensics Research and Education Group (UNHCFREG) saying. He and co-authors Jeff Oduru, Kyle Anthony, Frank Breitinger and Glenn McGee plan to present their findings in a paper for a digital forensics conference in August.

As the number of smart devices grows, together with the growth of the complete Internet of Things market, so does grow the threat of cyberattacks and data theft.

Experts are often heard warning smart devices makers, as well as software developers, about the unsatisfactory levels of security in new devices and new markets.

Apple, Google and Microsoft have moved to encrypt the file systems used to store data on their operating systems -- often over the objections of governments that want law enforcement to be able to more easily use that data in their investigations.

On Monday, two US associations from the tech industry have written an open letter to US president Barack Obama, showing their concerns about US policies regarding data encryption.